Foreword

The most common questions I receive have nothing to do with advanced trick training or flight. Instead, I am constantly being asked how to get a parrot to do basics like come out of the cage, step up, or not bite. These basic questions are fundamental to parrot ownership. Unfortunately many owners cannot enjoy the most from their parrot if they cannot accomplish basic handling.

Michael, Kili, and Truman

I faced these very same questions when I bought my first parrot, a Cockatiel. I had never so much as touched a bird before in my life and here I was with a bird in the transport box and a cage but absolutely no idea what to do. I spent a lot of time and money to buy training information but unfortunately most of it was unhelpful. Sure there are lots of books and dvds about the methods for teaching specific tricks but few or none of them teach you about the absolute basics. They tell you to take the parrot out of the cage and proceed with training. Well I know from personal experience that this presumption that the owner can get the parrot out of the cage is flawed. Many owners cannot enjoy the thrill of teaching tricks to their parrot because they do not even know how to handle it or reduce aggression in the first place.

A year ago I had written the How to Teach Parrot to Step Up guide on The Parrot Forum and it is still to this day one of my most popular articles. I understand that this basic information is very sought after. Yet I still receive many questions that are even more basic still or that weren't covered in the original article which was predominantly about target training. So now, I sit down to write what I hope to be the ultimate guide to the basics of parrot taming and training. I hope you enjoy the information contained herein and find it helpful. Please read through completely, watch the videos, share with other parrot owners, reread as necessary, and ask your questions on The Parrot Forum. Welcome to the world of parrot training.

Introduction

Why should you read this? You may be a first time parrot owner that just got home with a new bird wondering why it did not come with an instruction manual. Or perhaps you have had some parrots for a long time but regret the inability to interact with them and wish to learn how to approach them. Maybe you found a lost parrot and need information about how to handle it so that you could foster it. Alternatively you got a rescued or rehomed parrot that is anything but friendly. Regardless of how you came upon a parrot or found this article, you are here because you want to improve your relationship with a highly intelligent, beautiful, and complex feathered companion.

This guide is meant to teach you everything you need to know to begin handling a parrot no matter what the history or circumstances. It does not matter how long you have had it, how old it is, what species the bird is, where you got it from, or what its history is. Certainly these things can affect how long it will take or how difficult it will be. But I guarantee you that if properly and patiently applied, these methods will work. These techniques will work just as well for a Parakeet, Conure, Amazon, Cockatoo, African Grey, or Macaw.

The only case that I can think of where this guide does not apply is for unweaned baby birds that are still hand feeding. Please have an experienced breeder or hand feeder take care of the baby or at least coach you through the process and do not attempt to apply these techniques to a young fledgling.

Getting Parrot Into the Cage for the First Time

If you just acquired a new parrot – whether it is from a breeder, store, or rehomed – you will need to transfer it from the transportation enclosure to its new cage. The parrot may be in a travel carrier, crate, or cardboard box. Regardless, the procedure will be the same for getting it into the cage. There are several possibilities of how tame the parrot is. If you do not already know, you're about to find out. Bring the carrier into the same area as the cage. Close all doors and windows.

Most likely the parrot is quite scared so putting the carrier door up to the cage door will not be encouraging for the bird to come out on its own. Food lures won't work either since a scared bird will refuse to eat for several days. Your intervention will definitely be required.

You may be lucky and have a friendly parrot that already knows how to step up. The problem is that you may not know that in fact the parrot is friendly and aware of stepping up. The best way to test this is to open the carrier slowly and bring your hand toward the bird. As you open the carrier door, keep the opening minimal and blocked with your hand so that the parrot cannot rush out. Slowly bring your hand closer and closer to the parrot. If the parrot doesn't react to the hand much, then keep going closer. However, if the parrot is opening its beak and aggressively snapping toward your hand, then the stepping up method is unlikely to work.

For the non-aggressive parrot, keep bringing your hand closer and aim your fingers perpendicular to the feet. Depending on the size of the parrot you'll want to use anything from one finger to your entire arm. The main thing is to place your hand parallel to the perch it is standing on and slightly above its feet. If it was trained by the breeder to step up, it is a good idea to say “step up” as you have your hand positioned. As soon as the parrot steps up, slowly take it out of the carrier and then bring it into the cage. Like with your hand before, aim the bird in such a way that the cage perch runs parallel to your hand and slightly above its feet. The parrot should now step up onto the perch. You can close the cage door and talk to the parrot for a little while but then be sure to give it some time alone to adjust to its new home. I wouldn't suggest handling the parrot anymore at this time unless you are already experienced with parrots.

Getting parrot out of the carrier

If it turned out you are dealing with an aggressive parrot or it didn't step up using the method previously mentioned, you're going to have to get a hold of the bird to get it into the cage. Don't worry about this affecting your relationship. The parrot will eventually get over this. In fact it probably won't even realize what happened if you do it quickly enough. You definitely don't want to draw out this unpleasant experience any more than necessary as the fear will escalate and only make it more difficult to catch. It is especially important not to let the parrot escape the carrier if it is flighted because you will have a much tougher time getting a hold of it somewhere in the room.

Ideally you should just use your bare hand and grab the parrot out of the carrier. If you are too scared, you could wear thin leather gloves or use a towel. The best place to grab the parrot by is actually the neck, just below the head. Not only is it a safer place to avoid getting bit, it's also least likely to harm the parrot. If you grab by the belly, it could restrict airflow, but grabbing by the neck will not. By holding under the beak, you can keep the parrot from being able to turn its head and bite you. You can do the same with a glove. If you use a towel, you can either grab through the towel, or just get the bird in it and wrap it until you can get it in the cage. In one bold motion reach in toward the parrot. Even if it is backing away, just keep moving your hand toward it and back it into a corner. At this point the bird can't get anywhere and you can get a hold of it. Regardless of how you got a hold of it, don't prolong this and hurry up and get it in the cage. Whatever you do, don't let go of the bird (even if it bites). You'll have a much tougher time getting back if it gets loose in the room. If you had to use this more forceful method, it's a good idea to give the bird a bit more time to settle down before proceeding to taming and training.

If the parrot stepped up for you, the bird is probably quite tame and this basic taming should go much quicker. Since it is stepping up reliably, you will be able to ask the parrot to step up to come out of the cage. On the other hand if you had to grab the bird out of the carrier, odds are you will have to continue doing this until it has learned to step up.

No matter what method you had to use to get the new parrot into the cage, do not overwhelm it with attention immediately. Not only does it need some time to calm down and settle in, you also don't want to make it too dependent for attention. It is likely that the new parrot will eat little or none for the first few days. This should not be of too much concern. Just be sure that it has access to food and water and that it is already familiar with the food you are providing. This is not the time to try to do a food change or to instate any kind of food management for training.

Approaching the Cage

It is very important not to make your parrot afraid of you by rushing at the cage. Until the parrot is more used to you, it is essential to approach the cage very slowly. Don't make any sudden noises and walk carefully not to trip, fall, and terrify the bird. First impressions are important and it is critical not to let the first one be a bad one. If you have a particularly fearful bird, don't even make eye contact with it as you approach the cage. Just slowly approach while looking somewhere else. By making eye contact, it may feel like it has been singled out by a predator.

If you take an unnecessarily cautious approach, there is no way that will hurt your relationship. You will be able to speed things up in the future. However, if you rush this and scare the bird, it will be much much harder to undo the fear that is developed.

You must determine your parrot's comfort threshold. It is quite likely that the parrot is accustomed to human presence and will not freak out if you come all the way up to the cage. However, if it does, you'll need to slowly desensitize it to your presence over time. If you find the parrot trying to bite at you, thrashing around the cage, or making any other drastic displays of discomfort in response to your presence, the following technique is necessary.

Start out of the room or out of sight. Approach the cage slowly and wait for the discomfort response. The moment it begins, stop and stay where you are. Do not approach further but do not retreat. Wait for the parrot to calm down. It may still look uncomfortable but as long as it has made a relaxing trend from the original outbreak, you may reward the parrot by turning around and walking away. By using this method, the parrot will learn that it actually takes calming down rather than making a big scene to get you to leave. You are showing the parrot that the only way to get what it wants is to be calm.

Continue this technique over a period of time. You should be able to approach progressively closer and closer. Once you are able to safely approach within touching distance of the cage, you can continue with the following positive reinforcement based techniques.

Determining Treats for Your Parrot

Determine your parrot's favorite treats

First you must find out what kinds of treats your parrot will enjoy. This is fairly easy. Parrots will often enjoy seeds, nuts, dried and fresh fruits. Mix a variety of these treats in a bowl and serve it to the parrot in the cage. If this is a new parrot, it is quite possible that it is not yet familiar with these foods so the first trial may be inaccurate. Give the parrot a few days to familiarize itself to these foods unless a clear favorite is demonstrated up front. Parrots are picky eaters and will eat their favorite food first, then the second, etc. You can determine a pretty clear order of which foods they like. For smaller parrots such as Cockatiels, Budgerigars, Lovebirds, Parrotlets, and other Parakeets, millet spray generally serves as the ideal treat.

Now that you have determined your parrot's favorite treat, never serve it as part of the daily cage meals. The favorite foods are only to be used as treats for training. If you have discovered a secondary and tertiary treat, you can also save those to use for training as well. The most effective method will be to feed only pellets and vegetables in the cage and use all other foods as treats for training. However, if your parrot is on a seed diet and you are unable to convert it to pellets, then at least stop serving the favorite kinds of seeds and save them for training. Use the secondary/tertiary treats for most training and use the absolute favorite treats when the parrot does a major breakthrough.

Getting Parrot Out of Cage for the First Time

Now whether you just acquired a new parrot or have had one trapped in the cage for a long time, eventually you will have to take the parrot out. Not only is daily out of cage time important for the parrot's mental health, but it is also important to be able to clean the cage from the inside on a regular basis.

Now simply opening the cage door and waiting for the parrot to come out to you on its own is pointless. The parrot is already going to be scared of everything and the cage will at least be the most familiar place for it. You're not going to achieve a hand tame parrot by doing this and might spend forever waiting till it comes out. So instead, I will explain how to get the parrot out for the first time and then you should immediately begin the appropriate taming and training exercises so these methods no longer need to be used and the parrot will just step up for you whenever you want to take it out of the cage.

There are two methods that can be used for getting a parrot out of the cage for the first time:

1) Target training2) Force out & reconcile

TIP

Except for the initial training, do not let the parrot come out of the cage on its own. Always reach in and request it to step up. This will help develop a positive relationship because you will get all the credit for the thrill of being able to come out. The parrot will begin to look forward to seeing you because it will learn that you are the source of good things like coming out.

Although the first method is least stressful, it also takes a much longer time to implement. On the other hand the second method is more hands on. I would say that the force out method is safest to be used on young hand raised parrots. This can range from merely asking it to step up to toweling it out. Either way, the experience outside the cage is made so rewarding that it reconciles being forced out initially. Baby parrots are much more forgiving and less likely to bite so this method can actually work quite well and create no trauma for the bird. Most likely the parrot was already accustomed to the breeder grabbing it to feed it anyway. If you are an experienced parrot owner and not afraid of the potential of being bitten, go ahead and use the force out/reconcile method. Similar to getting the parrot out of the carrier for the first time, you can test step up, just grab the parrot, grab with a glove, or use a towel. Just get the parrot out of the cage but then give it a super rewarding time outside of the cage with additional training. I will detail the taming/training exercises to do shortly afterward.

For everyone else including first time parrot owners, people afraid of getting bit, owners of rehomed/rescued parrots, and owners of parrots that were for a long time cage bound, I am going to advise against forcing the parrot out but instead to train it inside the cage. Not only does this method buy time for the parrot to get used to the owner, but it also helps the owner get used to the parrot. It mutually reduces fear and builds a positive relationship.

Performing target training in the cage begins with teaching the parrot to accept treats from your hand. This part could take as little as a few seconds to as many as a few weeks. The important thing is not to scare the parrot of your hands in the process. If the parrot isn't too shy, you can come to the side of the cage nearest the parrot and extend the treat through the cage bars up to the bird. However, if you find the parrot running away whenever you approach, then just come to a slightly further end of the cage and wait patiently. Just hold the treat through the bars and don't move. Let the parrot come to take it on its own. This may not happen on the first try but if you consistently offer treats like this, eventually it will let down its guard and come over to take it. You can use longer strands of millet spray for small parrots or a strip of fruit for larger ones. This will give your hands a bit more separation from the parrot. Do not worry about biting. Not only do the bars protect your hands, but the parrot is sooner to want the tasty treat than to bite you.

As soon as you feel the parrot feels safe eating treats from your hand, it is time to introduce the clicker. The only reason you don't want to begin using the clicker too soon is because it may scare the parrot from eating treats from your hand. But as soon as it is comfortable, you should click every time you are about to give it a treat. If you find the click to be scaring the bird, you can muffle the sound by holding it behind your back or inside your sleeve. Once it is no longer scaring the bird, you can start clicking closer and closer. The goal of clicking when you give treats is to teach the bird that the sound of a click means it is going to get a treat. This will become the bridge for the remainder of your training. The click bridges the time gap between when the bird performs the desired behavior and receives the reward. This way it eliminates any confusion about what you wanted the parrot to do to earn its treat.

Target training parrot inside cage

The next step is to teach the parrot to target. This is where you hold a target stick (chopstick or dowel) out and the parrot walks over to touch it with its beak. Naturally, at first the parrot will not know that this is what you want it to do. This is why you need to teach it by giving it a chance to touch the stick and earn treats. At first, hold the target stick through the cage bars really close to the parrot. Quite likely, the parrot will bite the stick out of shear curiosity. The moment that it does, click and give it a treat. Repeat this a few times. Eventually, test if the parrot is motivated to make a slightly bigger move to touch the stick by holding it a tiny bit further away. Try to get your parrot to lean in to touch the stick, turn its head to touch the stick, and then eventually to take a few steps to touch it. Bear in mind that this may not happen all at once and may require several training sessions to achieve.

If your parrot absolutely does not make a single effort to touch the stick for the first time (which is necessary for it to realize that it can have a treat for this), you can touch the stick to the beak the first time to give yourself an excuse to treat the parrot. Do not do this too many times though. Eventually the parrot must do this on its own in order to learn to target. If you are having too much trouble, the parrot might not be motivated enough for food. Stop and try again another time when the parrot is hungrier.

There is a possibility that the parrot is afraid of the target stick and runs away from it. In this case, do not chase your parrot around with the stick. Instead, hold the stick steadily in one spot and just watch the parrot's movements. Whenever the parrot moves away from the stick, don't do anything. However, if it makes any motion toward the stick (it could be as little as taking a step toward it or even turning its head that way), click and reward. Reward any effort from the parrot that ventures in the direction of the stick. You can continue this progressively by rewarding bigger and bigger steps toward the stick and not walking away or making smaller steps. This will eventually teach the parrot to get close to and touch the stick. It is like the game of hot/cold when you tell the other person if they are getting closer/further from some hidden scavenger prize. When the parrot moves toward the target stick, that is getting warmer and it gets rewarded for this.

Hold target stick, clicker, and treat

Eventually, you will be able to target the parrot around the cage to any place. The parrot will watch the stick and walk/climb to wherever you point it. This is the point at which you know you are ready to reach into the cage for the first time. If you're not fearful you can use your bare hands. But if you have any reservations, you can wear a leather glove or better yet hold a perch for your parrot to step up on. It is best to use a perch from or similar to the ones in the cage. You will need to master the one handed target maneuver to continue. This involves holding the clicker, target stick, and treat all in one hand because your other hand is where the parrot will be taught to step onto (or the perch it is holding). Hold the clicker in your palm and use your middle finger to click. Slide the target stick into your hand and hold the treat with thumb and forefinger. You may want to practice this a few times away from the parrot to be sure you can do it right. If you fumble with these training aids at the time of training, it may scare the bird and set back progress.

Target parrot out of cage

Prior to proceeding, practice a few known target touches to get the parrot in the mood for training. Then slowly open the cage door and continue practicing targeting inside the cage but with your hands in the cage. This is not a bad exercise to practice a few times to get your parrot used to hands inside of the cage. Next you can hold a perch in one hand and target the parrot from the cage perch to your handheld perch. Don't think that you can immediately take the parrot out and all is done. Target the parrot off of your handheld perch and back to the cage. Practice this a bunch of times so that the parrot can get comfortable. Now after practicing this enough times, you should be able to carry the parrot out of the cage and to your designated training area. At this point you are ready to train your parrot like any other.

Target Training Parrot Outside the Cage

Whether you got your parrot out of the cage with ease, unwillingly, by targeting, or any other method, you will want to begin your parrot taming and training experience by target training the parrot outside of the cage. Parrots can get territorial but also easily distracted inside their cage. Therefore the cage is not a suitable place for training. From my personal experience, Parrot Training Perches are the ideal stand to use for parrot training. However, a free standing parrot stand, chair back, or table top perch can be your next best training solution. Do not provide any toys, feeders, or other distractions in the parrot's training area. It is important for the parrot to focus on you and nothing else.

Get your parrot from the cage to its training stand using methods outlined above. Give it a little time to get used to the stand but as soon as it calms down, proceed to training. The first few times you have it out will only be about teaching it to accept treats from your hand. You should have already figured out what treats are suitable from the procedure outlined previously. Now offer those treats from your hand. You can test your parrot's eagerness and motivation to eat from your hand by holding the treat a few inches from the parrot and seeing if it walks for the treat or not. If the parrot is willing to make a few steps to get the treat from you, you'll know you're ready to begin target training.

User a clicker for training

Once your parrot is comfortably eating from your hand (and remember this may involve several training sessions), you should introduce the clicker. A clicker is simply a handheld box that makes a click noise when you squeeze it. This device is used as a training bridge to communicate to the parrot when it has completed the behavior you are trying to train. The way that the parrot knows that a click means it got it right is because you will start the clicker training with clicker conditioning. This is the process of simply clicking, and giving the parrot a treat immediately. Soon the bird will learn that when it hears a click, it will get a treat. Once you begin teaching the actual tricks, the parrot will realize that whatever it did at the moment the click happened, it has earned a treat. So go ahead and clicker condition the bird for a few sessions by clicking the clicker and giving a treat. You will know that the parrot is ready to proceed to the next step when it becomes more attentive/excited upon hearing the click sound.

Chopstick serves great as target

Now that the parrot accepts treats from your hand and knows what a click is, you are ready to begin target training. Target training involves showing a stick to the parrot and it then walks over to touch the tip of the stick. The purpose of this is to teach the parrot where you want it to walk by having it follow the stick. This is more effective than luring (just holding the treat and waiting for the bird to come get it) because the bird isn't distracted by the food. A chopstick or wooden dowel works best but any non-toxic object can be used for this purpose as long as it is consistent. Even if you used the target method for getting your parrot out of the cage, it is still a good idea to practice this skill with your parrot in the new training area.

TIP

Do not let the parrot attack, play with, or chew up the target stick. Not only will this ruin the training aid but it will also teach the parrot a behavior different from what we are trying to achieve. Use the distraction of the click upon touching the stick to catch your parrots attention. Immediately bring forth the treat while pulling the target stick away. If the parrot continues biting the stick too hard, you can click and reward when the parrot approaches the stick and is about to touch, but before the beak has actually clasped the tip of the stick.

Begin target training by holding the tip of the target stick close to your parrot's beak. Most parrots will bite the stick out of mere curiosity. The moment the parrot's beak touches the stick, click and offer a treat. Do not let the parrot play with or chew the target stick. Try again. After several attempts, the parrot will begin to catch on that touching the stick will earn it food. If the parrot is not approaching the stick, try to wait it out and see if it will go for it eventually. Try to resist the temptation to return the stick closer and closer if the parrot is not approaching. Instead, take the stick away, and try setting up an easier target scenario the next time. As the parrot becomes better at targeting, you can try to hold the stick further and further away. First it may be just far to bend the neck toward the stick, then to turn the head, eventually to take a single step toward it. Before you know it, you'll have the parrot walking all over the perch to touch the stick.

You can improve targeting skills by targeting the parrot toward you and away from you. Also hold the stick higher and lower. The parrot will in this way learn that only touching the tip of the stick is what will earn it a treat. Do not click or reward your parrot unless it touches the tip of the stick. If it touches higher up on the stick, take it away and request it to target again. It is not required, but a good idea to say the word “target” or “touch” as you show the parrot the stick. This will over time develop as a secondary command besides the sight of the stick. This can be used to give extra encouragement for the parrot to go touch the stick when it may not be paying the best attention.

Establishing Training Motivation

Keeping your parrot motivated is the key to successful training. Your parrot must want the rewards. Otherwise they do not serve much purpose. There are several easy ways to ensuring that your parrot is most motivated by food rewards.

Parrots naturally feed in the mornings and evenings so training is best done during these same times. It is best to train your parrot at its hungriest, so it doesn't make any sense to do it right after it ate a meal. Instead, take the food out of the cage overnight. In the morning, do training first and then put the parrot's meal back in the cage. You can let it eat all it wants, but be sure to take the food away again prior to the evening training session.

How long prior to training you need to take the food away will vary. Some parrots are driven by the tastiness of the treats rather than hunger. Meanwhile for others, you may end up using the same food as treats so hunger will be key. For basic food management, you do not even need to use a scale to weigh the parrot (we may introduce this for advanced training but for the purpose of the basic training in this article it is unnecessary). First try training the parrot without taking the food away at all. Next time, take the food away one hour prior to training. Next time try taking it away two, then three, and all the way up to six hours. Do not leave your parrot without food for more than six hours (except overnight while it is sleeping) unless you are capable of tracking your parrot's weight/health. Six hours without food will not harm your parrot but will simply give it the hunger to strive to do what it takes to earn treats during training. You will find the optimum duration to leave your parrot without food when training motivation improves.

After training sessions, let your parrot eat as much as it wants to so that it can maintain a healthy weight. Be sure to provide a healthy balanced diet. Pellets serve as a solid nutritional basis. Fresh vegetables, fruits, and grains can be provided in moderation. Be sure to save the parrot's favorite foods only for training.

Teaching Parrot to Step Up

Practice targeting with parrot

Now that your parrot knows how to target, it should not be too difficult to turn this into stepping up. After practicing a few step ups to get your parrot warmed up, you can start by targeting your parrot to step up onto a handheld perch. This is a good way to desensitize it to your hands without being too forceful. Progressively you can hold the perch closer and closer in so that the parrot has to stand closer to your hand every time it is targeted onto the perch.

Once the parrot is stepping up onto a perch satisfactorily, you can begin training it to step up on your hand. If the parrot still bites a lot and you are scared, you can wear a glove during the earlier parts of this training. However, keep in mind that the glove also encourages the parrot to bite because they like chewing leather. Hold your hand a short distance away from the parrot and slightly higher than its feet. Hold the target stick such that the only way the parrot can reach it is by stepping onto your finger or hand.

You may want to hold out your arm (for bigger parrots) or the back of your hand initially in case you are worried about the parrot biting your finger. Once you get more comfortable with each other, you can have the parrot step up.

Target parrot to step up

on your finger. After you achieve some success doing this, you can begin to recede the use of the target stick. Begin by saying step up every time you practice this exercise. Then stop targeting the parrot onto your hand but hold the stick in the other hand in sight. Eventually you won't even need to show the target stick at all and the parrot will know how to step up.

You should practice step up in all different areas. Have the parrot step up from finger to finger. Practice the parrot stepping up from inside the cage. Also have the parrot step up from you to other people so that it is accustomed stepping up for all people and not just yourself. If the parrot is scared and doesn't want to go to the other person, try targeting it onto their hand rather than forcing it.

Basic Taming and Handling

Once you have achieved some basic skills with the parrot like targeting and step up, you should continue taming the parrot to being touched and handled. I'm sure you want to be able to pet and hold your parrot so the following procedures are important to follow. Also the parrot should be used to being held and toweled for when it visits the vet or groomer.

The taming method is the same every step of the way. It involves figuring out your parrot's comfort threshold, pushing it slightly, waiting till it calms down, removing the discomfort, and then rewarding the parrot with treats.

The first thing you will need to achieve is the ability to touch your parrot. The beak is one of the best places to start because if you are touching the beak, you know where it is and can avoid getting bitten. Start by placing your hand in front of the parrot and slowly move it closer and closer. If the parrot makes any moves to bite or move away, stop right there. Hold your hand in that position and wait for the parrot to calm down. Wait a few seconds after it calms down, take your hand away and give a treat. Keep repeating this procedure so that you can get closer and closer. Eventually your parrot will tolerate you touching its beak. You can scratch the beak with your fingernail; the parrot will like that.

Tame parrot to be used to towel

Next, use the same method to tame the parrot to let you touch its body. Hold your hand over the parrot and approach slowly. At the first display of discomfort stop and wait to calm down, then reward. Eventually you'll be able to touch the parrot with one finger and if you keep practicing this, your whole hand. Once you can put your entire hand on the parrot's back, begin practicing cupping your hand around the back and wings. With every step of the way, apply more pressure until you have such a grip that you can pick the parrot up. At first pick it up only briefly and then put the parrot back down (don't forget to reward). But eventually you will be able to pick the bird up for longer and longer.

Putting Parrot Away in Cage

One of the biggest problems/mistakes parrot owners make is making going back into the cage an unpleasant experience for the parrot. If the parrot does not want to go back into the cage but is forced to by the owner, not only will it upset the relationship but it will also make the parrot resist stepping up for fear of being put away.

The solution to this problem though is very simple. Develop a routine of taking your parrot out in the mornings and evenings, prior to meal times. Spend the time you want with your parrot out and do some training. Then put the parrot away in its cage to a delightful meal. The hungry parrot will be looking forward to going back in its home to be fed rather than disappointed for having to be put away.

Also, be sure to use step up for good things other than being put away in the cage. Some people only use step up to put the parrot away and let the parrot roam on its own all the other time. In that case, the parrot will soon learn that step up means being put away and may choose to bite instead of stepping up. So instead, mix things up. Have your parrot step up so that you could put it on a different stand. Have the parrot step up so you can scratch its beak. Have the parrot step up so you can cue a trick and give it a treat. By mixing up what step up is used for and keeping it positive, you can guarantee that the parrot will remain tame and willing to step up.

Conclusion

This article should have answered basic questions such as: how do I get my new parrot into the cage for the first time? How can you take a parrot out of the cage initially? What is the best way to teach a parrot to step up? What do I do to train my parrot to target? How should you go about clicker training? How to teach a parrot to step up onto the hand? What are the steps to taming a parrot to allow being grabbed or touched? How to towel a parrot?

The key to parrot training is the use of positive reinforcement. You need to make things such that the parrot wants to

Michael with Kili

do what you want. Always think of the parrot's perspective and what's in it for the bird. When it comes to taming, it's all about slowly desensitizing your parrot to things. Make your parrot slightly uncomfortable with a new object or place to touch, wait for it to calm down, and then reward by taking it away and giving treats. Make scary things (hands, towel, other people, new objects) less scary by presenting them without any force and giving your parrot the opportunity to make them go away by calming down. Make this super rewarding by providing treats as well.

I hope this training guide will help you on your journey with your feathered friend. After reading this, you should not need to purchase any book, dvd, or online guide for parrot training. You have been given the tools for basic parrot taming and training and I am sure that when put to use, they will bring you surprisingly wonderful results. You can subscribe to the trained parrot blog to receive updates when new parrot training articles are posted.

Update: If you liked this guide, you will especially like my book, The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots. It's not just a tutorial about teaching a parrot to step up, but a complete approach to parrot keeping. From what parrot to get to flight training and problem solving, this book covers what a pet-parrot owner needs to know. You can purchase the book on Amazon or receive free shipping, clicker, and target stick included when you purchase directly from the Parrot Wizard.

You can support the Trained Parrot Blog effort by purchasing a set of Parrot Training Perches to use in training your own bird. These come in either Java or Dragonwood and are sized for small, medium, and large parrots. They are a wonderful training aid and can be seen used in most of the training videos included with this article.

Posted on October 22, 2010 09:27PM

Posted on October 23, 2010 01:29PM

first: GREAT article!
i have a question though. i have been doing some training and reading this it became clear i have been making some mistakes. my bird always comes out on his own, he has always done this but i am going to try and change this and start with step one again, target training inside the cage, maybe this will improve the target training outside of the cage.
my question; when he is out of the cage, should training start straight away? i usually let him play a little. and after the training (i keep it short so he doesnt lose interest and it becomes boring) should he immediatly go back in his cage so he is basicly only out of the cage for training or is it ok for him to raom around a bit and do what he wants to do?

Posted on October 23, 2010 05:36PM

Posted on October 23, 2010 09:42PM

Posted on October 24, 2010 12:15AM

[quote="rebeccaturpeinen":vfo6flo6]first: GREAT article!
i have a question though. i have been doing some training and reading this it became clear i have been making some mistakes. my bird always comes out on his own, he has always done this but i am going to try and change this and start with step one again, target training inside the cage, maybe this will improve the target training outside of the cage.
my question; when he is out of the cage, should training start straight away? i usually let him play a little. and after the training (i keep it short so he doesnt lose interest and it becomes boring) should he immediatly go back in his cage so he is basicly only out of the cage for training or is it ok for him to raom around a bit and do what he wants to do?[/quote:vfo6flo6]
I highly recommend having the parrot step up in order to be let out because then YOU can get credit for taking the parrot out. When you just open the door, I don't think they particularly associate that with you. But when you reach in and they step on you, they learn that stepping up for you is super awesome! It just helps with step up in general.
Actually, considering you are able to get your parrot out in the first place, I wouldn't suggest doing the training in the cage first. Start with target training in your designated "training area" until the parrot is well accustomed to being targeted. Next, practice target step up onto hand (outside cage) while still using whatever method you used before for going in/out. Then when it's already familiar with target outside the cage, you can begin using target in the cage. It will pick it up this way much quicker. They learn quicker outside the cage cause there are fewer distractions.
Once your parrot is reliable at stepping up, just remember to keep whatever happens after stepping up positive (attention, beak rubs, toys, going some place fun) and you won't have to use targeting or treats to maintain it. Especially with the fantastic reward called "coming out of cage." That's a treat in itself and step up is maintained thus.

Posted on October 24, 2010 11:18AM

I have been having great sucess over the last two days, ii have just started to train my baby lovebird oscar and he is coming along so well thanks to the article that you wrote, i want to thank you so much, he has already learnt to step up and down from his perch ot my hand and he is also doing target trainging, i did step up first because i forgot to target, but he has learnt very quickly, now i just have to get him to step up form his cage
anyway thanks a heap and i have emailed everyone who i know how has birds with the link to your site and they all love it great work
Oscar and Jess

Posted on October 26, 2010 02:28AM

Thanks for the great information. I ordered your perches and am inspired to start training. One question. I have a brown headed parrot, which I am most excited about training, and two lineolated parakeets. I have the two parakeets in a cage together, they are very tame, however I am wondering how to best train them to keep them tame and possibly some basic tricks. Does keeping two together in the same cage present any specific challenges in training?
Separating them is not an option, The brown head is the bird I want to work with on tricks, but I would like the parakeets to come out of the cage (step up) and remain calm while being held. Right now when they are separated they just call to one another.
Thanks again I was really inspired by your videos, blog, and forum. Thanks for offering all this great information to everyone.
Jeff

Posted on October 26, 2010 02:32AM

I've never had more than one parrot per cage, so honestly I wouldn't know the specifics of this sort of training. I would assume it is still possible but definitely harder. You can try putting one parakeet on each training perch at some distance apart. You do a few repetitions with one and then focus with the other. I'm sure the same taming techniques would apply but just make sure that the bird you work with pays attention to you at the time. Some food management as outlined in the article should help drive their motivation to earn treats from you.

Posted on June 10, 2011 03:01AM

hey, I'm absolutely loving your videos and training guides. So much more helpful than most of the stuff out there, and it's cool to see what's really possible with some love and attention.
I do have one question though. About a week ago I got my budgie Winter. She's still very young, and quite tame. I can get her to step up every time without troubles, and at night she will sit with us on the couch for hours without getting bored and wandering off to play with something or explore. I'm really impressed with how quick she's bonded to us, and naturally want to get her started on some training as soon as possible, so we can play and interact in a positive manner. Where I'm having trouble is getting her to take a treat. It's taken me almost a week of offering to get her to take to millet (I've tried fruits, and eating them in front of her, but she's not interested yet) and sometimes now she seems to love millet, and then other times she still looks at it as though she doesn't know what it is. The moment I start trying to associate the treat with the clicker she doesn't seem to want the treat any more, and hops away to do something else. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Posted on October 4, 2011 11:30PM

Posted on October 16, 2011 05:23PM

hey, i got a bird about 2 weeks ago, and i have tried to feed it with my hand but it just get scared. everytime i put my hand up in front of her, she gets scared. i dont know what she wants to eat either. i put some fruits for her but she dont eat them, but she just ears the nuts and seeds

Posted on October 16, 2011 06:27PM

Posted on October 16, 2011 07:24PM

well, the problem is that i don't know what bird it is :s but she is red around the neck and green on the body + she has a blue tail. she is 8 months old. My dad got it from a friend of his. i got it about 2 weeks ago. but she dosen't get scared when i get close to it, but everytime i put my hand up, she gets scared

Posted on October 19, 2011 02:29AM

Wont the bird get annoyed of not getting its food treat when its time for a reward? How do you make sure petting it and spending time with it would be enough? I also let my bird come out on its own. I usually feed him in the morning and he's always happy to see me. Most of the time he hops out of the cage when I open it. Sometimes he won't step up. Should I just target train him outside the cage as a first step? And can I do the taming exercises first so I can use that as a reward instead? I have bought your clickers and hope to start training him soon.

Posted on October 19, 2011 01:18PM

Unless it is already a super cuddly bird, stick to food treats in the beginning. Go through target training and step up training first. Then you can teach some tricks or taming. After going through the taming stuff you can get to petting. You'll know if the parrot likes it or not. At first it probably won't cause it doesn't know what it is, so you have to give it treats to give you the chance to touch and scratch. But after giving it a try, there is a good chance that it will like it. When the bird keeps putting its head down begging for more, you can start using this more as a reward for good behavior.
Since you are already able to handle the bird, you can begin target training outside the cage. Regardless if the parrot is tame or not, it is a good practice to establish prior to teaching other tricks because it is so simple. Also many tricks are based on this concept.

Posted on October 20, 2011 07:21PM

Posted on October 20, 2011 07:49PM

Sure, but to an extent I consider everything to be training. Aside from formal training sessions, I think it is still important to emphasize good behavior and ignore bad behavior. So if I just have the parrots out and they want a head scratch, I call them to fly over to me rather than me going up to them to give it, etc. Or if I give them a toy it's because they are sitting on their perch being good, not for flying some place I don't want them

Posted on October 28, 2011 03:13PM

Posted on November 14, 2011 04:13PM

Hi Michael i emailed you about my Senegal acting silly when i would talk to her and hold her. i haven't tried letting her touch my skin yet but i am weary about the bite she can definitely pack a punch behind her bite and that makes me nervous. I don't want to jump and make her scared of me.

Posted on November 15, 2011 03:06PM

Posted on November 19, 2011 12:24AM

Thank you so much! My budgies are stars at target, as it turns out, inside the cage with my hand in there. I have a problem, though. Once I tried to get my better parakeet, Perry, out, but then he flew into my sister's room. I can't transport them to a training perch. Is there any way to get them to NOT fly away?

Posted on December 12, 2011 01:03PM

Posted on December 12, 2011 01:40PM

Not necessarily. Just make sure you take it out in a very small room (bathroom/closet with light) so it can't get too far away. Make sure it is already used to taking millet from your hand before you take it out. Make sure it is hungry when you do take it out and just let it eat a lot of millet from you. If in doubt though, I suggest using the target in cage method unless you have a good sense of what you are doing or already have a fairly tame bird.

Posted on December 14, 2011 08:01AM

Thanks Micheal for your help,
Sometimes I can touch the budgie by finger without any problem but it didnt eat from my hand. Even if it is very hungry it will not eat from my hand. And I have another problem that it dont eat anything except seeds. I tried to decrease the seeds and add some veggies like lettuce and parsley and sometimes stop the seeds and keep veggies only but it will not eat ever even if it is very hungry.

Posted on January 17, 2012 12:27AM

Posted on February 8, 2012 02:11PM

First of all, i would like to thank you for the great article...
I have read it and really want to apply it to my budgie...thing is..my budgie seems like to fly very much...it is clipped though but still whenever i took him out of the cage hoping to train him...he justfocus onflying away...
Heis pretty tame, meaning that he would come to my hand and eat the seeds inside the cage..he will also step up to my fingers...
However, as soon as he is out of cage, he will bobbing his little head and aiming to fly away...he couldnt fly high and far but still it prevent me to train him target training or step up training as ur article suggested...please let me know how to train him with said condition..thank you for any advices.

Posted on March 8, 2012 06:48PM

Posted on April 1, 2012 06:46AM

Your videos are really interesting Michael.
My echo parakeet, Bébé, who's a baby raised parrot is an interesting case. Whenever I go near his cage, he always gets fluffy and when I put my hands through the cage bars, he tries to bite me. He doesn't get aggessive when I just sit next to the cage, but only when I put my finger through the cage bars or try to open the door.However you may be stunned to know that he has a bit Of Dr. Jerkyll and Mr. Hyde persona.
One day I opened the cage door, he came out and went up the cage. He was still aggessive. I took a towel and grabbed it through that towel and took him away from his cage.Now he was no more fluffy. He accepted petting came on my hands and didn't bite me. But whenever I put him back in his cage he became aggressive again and refused to step up while trying to bite me. I tried the target trick several time but whenever he got near the stick, he fought with it, trying to break it.
Can you please give me a solution to this case, please Michael. I want him to step up so that I can teach him new tricks while improving our realtionship.
Luqman

Posted on April 1, 2012 12:06PM

Use a clicker and click right as it is about to touch the stick. This distracts it for a moment while you pull the stick away and bring forth a treat. They learn to just touch it rather than play with it.

Posted on April 9, 2012 03:44PM

Hey Michael I had a quick question. I have two Parrotlets and they get very scared of me when I stick my hand in the cage and stay away from me but once they are out of the cage they like to go on my shoulder and don't mind being picked up, faster motions still scare them. Is is recommended that I keep them separate if I am looking to do training with them? If so why would this be?
Thank you in advance,
Brett.

Posted on April 10, 2012 01:43AM

Posted on April 20, 2012 12:53PM

Hello Michael
Whenever I approach my parrot's cage it always gets angry and worst if I open the cage and put my hand forward; it tries to bite me... I've read in an article that if your parrot gets aggressive upon approach to cage is because it doesn't want you in his territory as there isn't yet trust between us.
But when it has gotten out of his cage its aggression's over and lets u pet him
Can u give me a solution to that problem plz

Posted on May 30, 2012 12:10AM

hey michael i have 2 lovebirds that are very scared. they are a couple and their eggs hatched today. ive been trying very hard to train them and they just keep going crazy and they dont listen to me. the girl sometimes cooperates but the guy then starts screeeching and she starts to be crazy. im just wondering if the baby lovebirds will have any affects to the older lovebirds.

Posted on June 15, 2012 10:44PM

This is exactly what I have been looking for. I just got a baby Senegal and she is scared of me. I messed up by letting her come out on her own a few times and she stepped up on a perch to go back in but I will start doing this. She was a hand fed baby but freaks out when I go in her cage for anything, is it still okay to use the force out method or should I go with the target method? She is 3 months old. Thanks!

Posted on July 9, 2012 12:06AM

ive had a blue and gold macaw for about 2 months..the person i got it from said it was a 6 year old female...she has been rehome 3 times from what i know..i can hand feed her..but she doesnt let me touch her..either she runs away or snaps..i need help!!

Posted on July 9, 2012 05:51PM

[quote="Jowiee":eylsj3dh]:macaw: ive had a blue and gold macaw for about 2 months..the person i got it from said it was a 6 year old female...she has been rehome 3 times from what i know..i can hand feed her..but she doesnt let me touch her..either she runs away or snaps..i need help!![/quote:eylsj3dh]
Work with basic taming, dont be deterred - even if you can only make small progress everyday. Move your hands closer and closer and slowly work on winning the birds trust and moving its comfort zone to you touching it!
Read through michael's article on basic training, its a great resource!

Posted on July 10, 2012 05:42AM

ive had my budgies Heaven and Faith for 4 months now and i am ready to start taming and training them and i hope this helps, Heaven may be easiest to tame cuz i think she /he is younger than Faith im not sure of their sex yet Faith is agressive and kinda mean im wondering should i start with Faith first since she/he may be the oldest but i dont know what treats Faith like i tried offering fruits and veggies and millet but no success Heaven just started to eat the millet for the first time and she/he loved it so i know what Heaven treat will be what should i do andwho should i start with first

Posted on July 23, 2012 08:35AM

[quote="salm1115":1t6devcg]ive had my budgies Heaven and Faith for 4 months now and i am ready to start taming and training them and i hope this helps, Heaven may be easiest to tame cuz i think she /he is younger than Faith im not sure of their sex yet Faith is agressive and kinda mean im wondering should i start with Faith first since she/he may be the oldest but i dont know what treats Faith like i tried offering fruits and veggies and millet but no success Heaven just started to eat the millet for the first time and she/he loved it so i know what Heaven treat will be what should i do andwho should i start with first [/quote:1t6devcg]
Perhaps you should train Heaven infront of Faith so Faith will see how much Heaven is enjoying interacting with you and she will realize you aren't a threat and will co operate with you.
Goodluck!

Posted on September 13, 2012 06:44AM

Hi Michael,
Its a very informative article for beginners.My cockatiel is 2 months old when I brought her home.She has learnt to step up without any hesitation when I take her out of cage and feels safe and fun in my hand.But when I leave her on the floor or somewhere,she just roams and do what she likes.But refuse to step up on my hand.When I keep my hand near her,she just goes away.And the breeder has practised millet as a food for her.So its getting difficult for me to change her to healthy food.I tried different ways (even the ways suggested by you - I eat by keeping her on my shoulder) but she is adamant.What can I do for this?

Posted on March 15, 2013 12:51PM

hi
even though i didnt target train my (budgies) he steps onto my hand ,he also learned step up and down.if i try to take him outside the cage he flies of to his perch in the cage,his wings are not clipped .now what is the next step i should do pls help

Posted on March 15, 2013 06:05PM

I would still recommend target training your budgie regardless because it is a very useful skill. You will be able to use this to teach it to turn around and go through a toilet paper tube in the future. Furthermore if your bird ever loses tameness, becomes hormonal, or you want to introduce it to other people, you will have a flawless tool in your training tool kit to apply to those situations.

Posted on March 28, 2013 04:33AM

Hi, I have a 3month old ringneck. Is it too early to hand raise her now? Every time I approach her cage she moves to the other side of the cage. I have just had her for 2days now and I really want to bring her out of the cage but I can tell that she's really unsettled. Help?

Posted on May 10, 2013 10:33AM

i hve a budgie.i didnt target train him but he steps up and down in the cage.when i take him out of his cage he flies away from me i will have to catch him to get him back to his cage i dont want to target train him to do triks but i want him to stay on me when i take him outside
pls help
with problems
pheonix

Posted on May 17, 2013 09:43PM

Hello, and thank you for this article. I am a new Parrot owner of a 16 week old Sun Conure that my husband and I bought 3 days ago, and I am looking forward to trying some of these techniques. I have been searching the net looking for basic training techniques for beginning to handle your bird and everything I have found til now has been more advanced stuff aside from targeting. It's hard to do that when you can't properly get them out of the cage. LOL. Tink is very sweet but she is having trouble with coming out of her cage. I started to just grab her but she panics and nips my hands but never bites too hard. However, I read that this can do damage to the relationship and actually teach the bird to bite you and fear your hands which is counter productive to the what you are trying to teach. I did notice that once she is out of the cage she is very loving and responsive to my husband, daughter and I and learns and does step up pretty well, but I am fearful of creating anxiety for her when coming out of the cage. Today I began target training her and she did very well with it inside the cage with the door open. She began to allow me to put my hands in near her, fix her toys and move items around without reaching to bite. Some times she would run away to the other side of the cage, but she is slowly coming around. I am going to continue with trying these techniques and hopefully be able to build her trust so I can get her out of her cage without causing her fear and anxiety.
Thank you for your help!

Posted on May 18, 2013 06:38AM

Phoenix - what you describe is normal behaviour for a bird. You need to build your relationship with your bird so that when s/he is out of his cage he'll want to come to you. That's the purpose of the trick training really, not for just having a bird perform tricks but to build trust and a relationship and so that your bird will do what you ask it to do. Offer him treats when he's in his cage and when he'll take them readily then offer them to him when he's out of the cage. Talk to him softly and praise him if he comes to you. But don't, under any circumstances, take your bird outside unless he's in a secure carrier.[/b:lhzvkjbq] What you are asking simply cannot be done, unless you want to lose your budgie and consign him to a miserable death from hunger or from a predator. Not even a well trained bird can be taken outside safely unless it's wearing a harness or is in a carrier.

Posted on May 22, 2013 02:42PM

I decided to take the plunge and buy a beautiful male Senegal Parrot two days ago from my local pet shop.
I was advised that he was the un-tamed half of a mis-matched breeding pair. He and another male had been sold to the previous owner as a breeding pair - not nice!
We bought Joey back to our house and after feeding him and stroking him through the bars for a few hours decided to let him out of the cage as we'd read that he needed an hour of out time per day however, it was an absolute nightmare we simply opened the cage and he flew out, made a great deal of mess and bit my ear and punctured my thumb!! Oh well, I still love him
Anyway, today I was searching on YouTube for the best tips to train him and came across your videos with Kili which lead me to this blog. THANK YOU! I've already learned how much I did wrong but I'm hoping that the fact that we've just met and now I know from your blog what I need to do, that I can repair our relationship.
Today, I've determined his first and second favourite treats and tomorrow I'm going to start CAGE TRAINING DAY 1.
Thank you very much for the help and advice provided in your blog!!

Posted on May 22, 2013 03:10PM

[quote="Kayleigh":1pf9xnqv]I decided to take the plunge and buy a beautiful male Senegal Parrot two days ago from my local pet shop.
I was advised that he was the un-tamed half of a mis-matched breeding pair. He and another male had been sold to the previous owner as a breeding pair - not nice!
We bought Joey back to our house and after feeding him and stroking him through the bars for a few hours decided to let him out of the cage as we'd read that he needed an hour of out time per day however, it was an absolute nightmare we simply opened the cage and he flew out, made a great deal of mess and bit my ear and punctured my thumb!! Oh well, I still love him
Anyway, today I was searching on YouTube for the best tips to train him and came across your videos with Kili which lead me to this blog. THANK YOU! I've already learned how much I did wrong but I'm hoping that the fact that we've just met and now I know from your blog what I need to do, that I can repair our relationship.
Today, I've determined his first and second favourite treats and tomorrow I'm going to start CAGE TRAINING DAY 1.
Thank you very much for the help and advice provided in your blog!![/quote:1pf9xnqv]
Well done in realising what you did wasn't going to work out and going to find better information before you ended up with a big problem. So many people dont. You really wont go far wrong with Michaels articles, I really wish they were available when I first started birdkeeping.

Posted on August 12, 2013 12:56PM

Hello, I have an Indian Ringneck. He hasn't got his ring yet as he looks quite Young. It's been a month now, and after much time being spent with him and talking to him he has not acquainted himself with me. He is especially scared of my hands. Should I use the force and reconcile method on him?

Posted on August 12, 2013 01:34PM

Posted on August 29, 2013 04:18AM

I have a 3.5 year old parrotlet. I have only had her for roughly 4 months and I adopted her from an exotic bird sanctuary. When I have tried to train her as described above but she isn't motivated by food. She could care less about millet and her favorite food is the safflower seeds in her mix so I've tried taking those out of her food and using those as treats and she isn't interested in them. She responds slightly to praise and won't let me touch her. She does step up but I'm at my wits end when it comes to training her to do anything else. Any ideas and/or advice?

Posted on August 29, 2013 04:25PM

actually i am not disappointing you micheal. 2 tell the truth u hve not trained an unclipped bird. when u got kili she was clipped and truman was half trained.it is not a challenge but can u buy a cheap unclipped bird and train it?? please

Posted on November 17, 2013 09:47PM

i have a pearl mutated cockateil that i have named "sky". she is 15 months old, and what i want to ask is this, when will she start laying eggs(she has no mate so the eggs would unfertilized)and how do i keep her healthy while this happens? ive read online that somtimes a cockateil can go through somthing called egg binding witch can kill them though i could find nothing explaining exactly what egg binding is or how to avoid it. please help!

Posted on December 10, 2013 04:39PM

Hi Michael,
i have read many of your articles and been applying it to my Dutch Blue Lovebird. It's been great thus far as i wished to keep it flighted. It's only 2months old, but i am having trouble training it to stay on my hand or on the training perch. It will fly to my shoulder most of the time.
1) is grabbing by the neck bad? (i tried to randomize, sometimes i grab because i want to put it into it's cage, sometimes i grab then i feed it.)
2) i heard about the feeding time, is lovebird same as the morning and evening feed only kind?
3) it craves to get out of its cage all the time, how did you managed to scheduled it's cage time and out of cage time effectively?
regards!

Posted on December 15, 2013 10:59AM

Posted on December 17, 2013 02:25AM

Hey Michael, thanks very much for this terrific site. I have ordered your book and training perches, just waiting for them to turn up.
I do have a couple of questions though and would appreciate some information
I have a 15 week old Sun Conure, he is very loving and is always eager to come out of the cage. I have been training him to step up and down and he will do this with ease when asked.
He is flighted and spends most of the day out of the cage, under supervision.
I am trying to get him to come to me when called, there is one problem, he loves it and is way to keen.
He will fly to my arm before I get a chance to call him, I would like to be able to have him stay on his perch until I call him. I feel he isn't really learning when he does it before he is asked, because he is deciding on when he will go.
He also has a habit of either landing on our heads and shoulders or likes to climb up an sit on our shoulders. Now I am not a fan of this, because I wear glasses and all he does is chew on them. I am also wary of potential injuries to the eyes and ears if he decides to get grumpy and bite hard.
So is there an easy was to dicourage him from doing the above?

Posted on March 29, 2014 08:56PM

hi, thank you for all the usefull info. i bought a 1 year ol african ringneck from a petshop, and she is wild! She bites at me and is very afraid of humans. Can I still tame her or is it too late. Please can you help me.
THanx

Posted on July 4, 2014 05:29AM

Posted on November 2, 2014 06:46PM

Hi! One of my budgie eats from my hand and I have been target training it for 2 days now. It likes to be scratched. But it bites when my put my finger under its belly for stepping up
What should I do? And I haven't taken it out of cage. I'm scared cuz wat if it starts flying like crazy and get hurt or flies away?? Will it fly away? And how do I get it to step up without being bitten? Thnx!

Posted on November 2, 2014 10:07PM

It may not actually be biting, it may be using its beak like a hand and holding on to make certain that it is steady or to help it to step up. This is a very common practice among birds. If you have closed off all means of escape then it can't fly away, just close the door and any windows and it will have to remain in that room. It may fly into a few things right at first, especially if scared but it will quit doing that really fast.